Entries in Hofstra University
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iStockphoto/Thinkstock(HEMPSTEAD, N.Y.) -- The Hofstra University junior killed during and armed home invasion of her off-campus house on Friday was accidently fatally shot by the responding officer, forensic investigators have concluded.

Police say Dalton Smith, a wanted man with a lengthy criminal history, was masked when he entered 21-year-old Andrea Rebello's home Friday, demanding money and valuables from Rebello and her three roommates. When police arrived, Smith used Rebello as a human shield in an attempt to escape.

“He's still got the gun to our victim's head,” Nassau County Homicide Squad Police Lieutenant John Azzata explained. “Eventually menaces our police officer, points his gun at the police officer and at that point, the police officer fires several rounds.”

The officer, a 12 year decorated veteran of this department who served more than 7 years with the NYPD, fired eight shots. Seven of them hit Smith, but the eighth bullet hit Rebello in the head. Both were killed.

The officer is currently on sick leave.

Nassau County Police Commissioner Thomas Dale drove to the Tarrytown, New York, home of the students' parents to tell them how she died.

"I felt obligated as a police commissioner and as a parent to inform them as soon as all the forensic results were completed," said Dale.

Now, instead of celebrating Sunday’s graduation festivities at Hofstra University, friends and classmates held a memorial for Rebello.

“It's really sad. She's a very sweet girl, she doesn't deserve this,” one student told ABC's Linzie Janis. “I really have no words for this. It is so unbelievable. I didn't think it was real.”

ABC News(NEW YORK) -- Four Hofstra University basketball players have been charged with stealing high-dollar electronics and cash from dorm rooms on the school’s Long Island campus.

The four defendants were arraigned on Friday in New York’s Nassau County, where they pleaded not guilty.

They were identified by police as Kentrell Washington, Jimmy Hall, Dallas Anglin and Shaquille Stokes.

“They would be in a dorm room visiting another student [and] if there was another unoccupied room in the suite, they would take liberty and remove iPads and laptops,” said Lt. Ray Cote of the Nassau County Police Department.

Police said the students’ star status as basketball players gave them unique access to students’ rooms, where they allegedly swiped an estimated $20,000 worth of cash and electronics over the past two months.

The stolen goods were then sold on Craigslist, at pawn shops and on the street, police said.

None of the four players have prior criminal records. Defense attorney, Frank Whelan, said they are innocent.

“The defendants are going to be found not guilty because the facts in this case are not what the prosecution wants you to believe at this time,” Whelan said.

Pat Greenhouse/The Boston Globe via Getty Images(NEW YORK) -- Green Party candidate Jill Stein and her vice presidential running mate Cheri Honkala were arrested at the Hofstra University debate site Tuesday as they protested their exclusion from the second presidential debate.

Stein and Honkala were jailed for disorderly conduct around 3 p.m. when they were blocked by police officers as they attempted to enter the debate hall, according to Stein’s campaign manager, Ben Manski.

Manski and the Nassau County Police Department both said that it was unclear when Stein and Honkala would be released, but Manski added they could remain jailed until midnight.

“The arrest was outrageous and shouldn’t be tolerated in a country that is a leading proponent of democracy,” Manski told ABC News. “They knew that there was the possibility that they would be arrested. Their intention was to enter the premises and bear witness to the mockery of democracy that is tonight’s debate,” he said.

The Green Party has long complained that the Commission on Presidential Debates attempts to “rig elections” in favor of the two major political parties by excluding third-party candidates from debates. Stein and Honkala also planned protests at the first presidential debate in Denver.

Stein, a licensed physician, is on the presidential ballot in 38 states or 85 percent of the ballots, her campaign says.

The Commission on Presidential Debates was formed in 1987 to administer general election debates.

In addition to the constitutional criteria to be eligible for the presidency, the Presidential Debate Commission requires that candidates have a mathematical possibility of achieving the 270 electoral college votes necessary to be elected, and the candidates must have at least 15-percent support in public opinion based on the average of five national polls in order to participate.